The Grand to present 'The Farnsworth Invention'

ELLSWORTH The Grand continues its fine tradition of live community theater with its new production of an exciting play from Aaron Sorkin: 'The Farnsworth Invention.' The play runs for just one weekend, June 3rd through June 5, 2016. Tickets are on sale now at the box office, by phone, or online at grandonline.org. Ticket prices for reserved seating are $18 for adults, $15 for Grand members and $12 for students (15 and under).

Aaron Sorkin, the Emmy-winning creator of 'The West Wing' and the Oscar-winning writer of 'The Social Network,' 'A Few Good Men' and 'Steve Jobs,' returned to his Broadway roots with this hit play that tells the true story of the race to invent one of the most important communication devices of the twentieth century television.

It's 1929. Two ambitious visionaries race against each other to invent a device called 'television.' Separated by two thousand miles, each knows that if he stops working, even for a moment, the other will gain the edge. Who will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century: the ruthless media mogul, or the self-taught Idaho farm boy? The answer comes to compelling life in 'The Farnsworth Invention.'

'The Farnsworth Invention' is the next Grand community theatrical production following its smash hits 'A Charlie Brown Christmas,' 'Disney's Mary Poppins' and 'Monty Python's Spamalot.' The returning production team includes director Robin Jones, production manager Kimberly Fitch, set designer Peter Miller, costume designer Chris Dougherty and multimedia designer Garrett Harris. This ambitious play, involving a complete video and audio design interacting onstage with 25 live actors playing over 80 characters on a 3-story set, brings local performers to the Grand's stage.

The talented actors playing the real-life men and women involved in the creation of television are some of the best in the area. They include Patrick Harris as Philo T. Farnsworth and Thomas Thompson as David Sarnoff. Other cast members are Nina Robinson-Poole, Kate Hall, Paul Allen, Bob Daisey, Jon Wood, Michael McFarland, Tracy Kimble Green, Bryan Lescord, Drew Cleveland, Whitney Pierson, Steve Gormley, Leslie Michaud, Demelza Ramirez, Frank John, Brent Hutchins, Irv Hodgkin, Robin Jones, Arthur Morrison, Brady Kelley, Berlyn Haupt, Nick Hansen, Drew Pierson, Raiya Vikberg, and Joshua Bamford. Gail Thompson is the producer and executive director of The Grand.

For more information on the production, please call our box office at 207-667-9500. For more information on events at The Grand, visit The Grand website at www.grandonline.org or follow The Grand on Facebook.